


When the Dark Spirits Enter Your Mind

by songbook



Series: The Kyalin Collection [4]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26453077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songbook/pseuds/songbook
Summary: Nightmares plague the women of Air Temple Island. They find the best way to combat an unseen enemy is by relying on each other.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato, Lin Beifong/Kya II
Series: The Kyalin Collection [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807093
Comments: 68
Kudos: 299





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place some time after Season 4, but before Elusive Spirits, so you don't have to have read any of the others in the collection to read this one. I don’t have a reason for everyone to be at Air Temple Island, but this story came to me while I was dealing with my own insomnia. After everything these women have been through, nightmares and night terrors are probably something they are all dealing with. So have a soft/sad story…

There was already a candle burning in the kitchen when Kya entered. Between the flickering flame and the moonlight streaming through the window over the sink, she could make out Korra and Asami sitting across the table from each other. Their hands were clasped tightly on top of the table. Kya couldn’t see their faces, but their auras gave off waves of sadness.

Before she could decide whether to interrupt or go to the dining hall, Korra leaned back, wiping her eyes and said, “You can come in, Kya.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She knew the young woman had been having nightmares for years and figured this was probably related. Both women were in their pajamas and Asami looked more concerned than upset herself. “I was just going to make some lavender tea…it helps with sleep. Would you two like some?”

“That would be wonderful, Kya,” murmured Asami before Korra could decline the offer. The two shared an exchange of facial expressions in the darkness, before Korra’s shoulders slumped and she cast her eyes down to the table. Asami reached out again for her girlfriend’s hand.

Kya smiled to herself. They made a nice couple and if there was someone who could understand the trauma Korra had been through, it was Asami, who Kya was sure had ghosts of her own. They all did, it seemed. The dark spirits always made their way into the depths of the mind late at night. She pulled the kettle down from a shelf and with one hand bent the water to fill it up. With the other hand she grabbed the tin of lavender tea.

Asami materialized by her side, grabbing three teacups from the same shelf. Kya made a motion with her hand and the young woman understood, taking down a fourth cup. She glanced over her shoulder at Korra who was still staring at the wood of the table as if she could bend it. It must have been bad tonight. Kya’s heart broke a little more. To be so young with so many scars.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Kya gently as she waited for the tea to heat on the stove. Korra’s face snapped up in surprise. “You don’t have to. Some people say it makes them feel better…but for others it’s easier to just try to forget the dream.”

Korra’s blue eyes flickered towards Asami. In the candlelight, Kya could see the tear tracks on her dark cheeks. Asami walked over and placed her hand on Korra’s shoulder. Gently, she said, “Kya’s right. You can talk to us. Was it Zaheer again? The poison?”

“No…” Korra’s voice was raspy from crying. “Not really…I don’t know. I couldn’t…”

“Sometimes our dreams are an interpretation of our fears, not an exact recreation.” Kya didn’t often have nightmares, but during her travels, she had worked with victims of war, abuse, and oppression. Some of the healing needed was more spiritual than physical.

“I guess…normally I’m fighting Amon or my uncle or the Red Lotus. Tonight, I was just walking through Republic City and suddenly everyone was gone. Everyone. I was alone…and I was just running up and down every street, but I was so alone…” Korra buried her face in her hands and Asami wrapped her arms around her shoulders, holding her close. Korra’s muffled voice came from beneath her arms, “It wasn’t even that bad of a dream. I feel so stupid for crying like this.”

“Everyone reaches their breaking point,” murmured Asami. She brushed her fingers through Korra’s short brown hair. “Like Kya said, sometimes our fears materialize as something else. And you’re not alone. I promise you never will be again.”

“Thanks, ‘Sami.” Korra wiped her eyes again and Kya turned away to give them a moment of privacy. The water was almost to the correct temperature, so she pulled the kettle off the heat and spooned in the tea leaves to let them seep.

A shadow crossed the kitchen door and Kya looked up to see a yawning Suyin creep into the kitchen. “Looks like I’m not the only one having trouble sleeping. Is that lavender?”

“Yes, would you like a cup?” Kya was reaching for another teacup before the other woman could answer. “What’s keep you up?”

“Nightmares,” replied Su with a sigh. She gave a little wave of her hand, as if waking in the middle of the night was nothing to worry about.

“Seems to be a lot of that going around tonight,” muttered Korra. But her tears were gone and Asami’s hand was held firmly in her own.

Suyin crossed the kitchen to give Korra a hug. “Oh, I’m so sorry. We’re lucky to have each other, though. Although I think Bataar would like to get some sleep. I used to have night terrors as a child, but I grew out of it. However, after everything that happened with Junior and Kuvira, I’ve been waking up at all hours.”

Kya began to bend the tea into the cups, careful to leave the leaves in the bottom of the kettle, and said, “I remember that. You were probably five or six, but you would wake up the entire island when you stayed over because it felt like an earthquake.”

“At least I grew out of that. Although Bataar swears sometimes he can feel the bed move,” said Su with a chuckle and she accepted the cup of tea. She took a deep breath to inhale the smell of lavender. Kya set the other two cups onto the table for Asami and Korra. She could feel Korra’s mood lifting as she listened to them talk. Su was right, it was good that they had each other. 

“What about you, Kya, anything you want to talk about?” Asami cradled her cup in her hand. It was a nice gesture, to ask how she was feeling, but Kya wasn’t awake because of her own dreams tonight.

“It wasn’t me. The tea is for Lin…sometimes she can’t go back to sleep after a nightmare, but the tea usually works.”

Su’s eyes widened in surprise. “Lin? She never had nightmares!”

Kya regarded the younger woman for a moment. Su was right, Lin never had nightmares as a child. But Tenzin had mentioned once or twice that she had developed some after being on the job for a couple of years. But Su wouldn’t know anything about that. “She won’t talk about them. But I’m pretty sure tonight was about Amon. She had to get her feet on the ground pretty quick.”

Both Korra and Asami nodded in understanding. Lin didn’t like to talk about it, but she did let Kya comfort her after a nightmare now, which was progress. Kya could tell when the dream was about her bending, because she needed to touch the element as soon as possible, as if to remind herself that she had gotten it back.

Su took a sip and then asked, “Amon? The Equalist? I read the reports…but I don’t understand…”

The realization dawned on Kya like a cold splash of water. Su had no idea what had happened to Lin. The thought both saddened and infuriated her at the same time. Every step the sisters had made in repairing their relationship was shadowed by years apart. It didn’t surprise Kya to know that Lin never told Su that she had lost her bending. It was a weakness that she would have never exposed; a piece of her life too traumatic to relive. Part of her was angry that Su had severed their relationship so badly that Lin couldn’t trust her with the information.

It was Korra that told her, because Kya was trying to find the right words. “Amon took Lin’s bending.”

“What?!” The outrage and grief in Su’s voice was satisfying. Lin had suffered and neither Toph nor Su had been there to comfort her. Su’s green eyes found Kya, as if asking for confirmation. When Kya didn’t answer, Su said, “I had no idea. She never…”

“She doesn’t like to talk about it,” shrugged Korra. “I don’t either. I mean, I unlocked my airbending, but when I thought I was never going to be able to bend the other elements, I had no idea how to handle it. I was the Avatar who couldn’t bend. It was devastating. And for Lin…”

“She lost everything.” Kya had found her voice. Lin had pushed everyone away when she lost her bending. Lin’s identity was in the earth and metal; it was the worst time of Lin’s life.

Su had to sit down while she processed the information. “How? How did he get to her?”

“She sacrificed herself to let Tenzin get away with his family,” said Kya, a piece of her heart breaking all over again. She remembered Tenzin telling her and their mother in a corner of the hut while the rest of his family slept. The guilt he had felt was heart wrenching.

“Amon wanted me, and she wouldn’t give me up,” added Korra.

The candle on the table flickered as the room fell into silence. Kya knew she should be getting the tea back to Lin, but she needed to make sure Su understood the woman her sister had become. Korra and Asami sipped at their tea, but Su sat frozen in her chair.

“That’s Lin, though, isn’t it?” Su’s voice was soft and contemplative. She wiped a single tear from her eye. “All she ever does is protect the people she loves. Even if it hurts. All she ever wanted was for everyone to be safe…for me to be safe. And I threw that all in her face.”

The emotional response caught Kya by surprise. At least it seemed that Su knew what she had lost by pushing Lin away. She was lucky to be back in Lin’s life and she knew it. So, Kya picked up her two cups and started to the door, saying, “I should get back to Lin.”

Before she could exit the kitchen, however, a fifth woman entered the room during the midnight hours. Pema looked like she had just woken. Her hair was tussled, and Kya was pretty sure she was wearing her husband’s robe instead of her own by the way it dragged on the ground.

“Oh, sorry, ladies,” she said as she took in the scene. “I just-”

“Had a bad dream?”

“Hmmm…” Pema’s eyes flittered over the room as if she were looking for someone. “Yes, a bit of one. I just needed to check on the kids, but Ikki isn’t in her room and I can’t find her…”

“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” reassured Asami. She walked over to the sink to dispose of both her and Korra’s cups. “We can help you look.”

“No, no, it’s not important.” Pema shook her head, but Kya could see the fear was still eating away at her. Like Asami, Kya was sure that Ikki was fine, but Pema had been so close to losing her children so many times that she didn’t blame the woman for needing to check up on them.

“Come on, sometimes she slips into my room,” said Kya. “Goodnight ladies.”

Su, Asami, and Korra all replied with their goodbyes. Asami and Korra left, hand in hand, back to their room. Su remained at the table, staring into her cup, as if the lavender would bring back the years she lost with her sister. Kya led Pema down the hall to her and Lin’s room, carrying the tea. Pema shuffled along silently beside her.

The door was cracked open, so Kya used her foot to push it the rest of the way. Her heart soared at the sight in front of her. Lin was laying on her back with her eyes closed and chest moving up and down slowly with each calm breath. Spiraled out on top of her was a dark haired eleven-year-old. Ikki was clinging to Lin, her face buried in her chest. Lin had an arm draped protectively over the little girl’s body. Both were sleeping soundly.

Kya turned to Pema, trying to blink the tears out of her eyes, and offered her a cup of tea. “She’s not going to need this tonight, so you should have it.”

Pema took the tea without question and looked as choked up as Kya felt. Pema asked, “Do you want me to take her back to bed with me?”

“No, dear, we’ve got her.”

Pema left and Kya closed the door softly behind her. She crept to the bed and climbed in as quietly as possible. Bending over, she pressed a kiss to her lover’s forehead and then her niece’s. Neither moved, both lost in sleep. It seemed that the dark spirits that had visited Air Temple Island tonight had been vanquished. Love had a way of doing that.


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be a one shot. But I couldn't resist this chapter.

She awoke violently, gasping for air. She felt hot and cold at the same time and the room was spinning. There was a warm body moving next to her and she was sure she had startled them awake in her maddened state. But she had to touch the earth; she needed the earth. He had taken her bending, but if she could just get to the earth…

Clambering over her lover, she practically fell to the floor, hitting the ground hands first. Her feet were tangled in the sheets and the other person’s legs, but they seemed to understand what was going on and helped her to the ground. Still gasping harshly, she concentrated on the earth, bent over on her hands and knees. Her entire body was shaking; she needed to connect to her element.

Fingertips pressed into the stone floor. The vibrations of the ground beneath her flowed through her arms and legs. She closed her eyes letting her lungs fill with air and then exhaling slowly. Slowly, her surroundings came into focus. It was just a nightmare. Amon was gone and her bending had been restored. There was earth beneath her fingers and indentions in the floor where her knees had hit.

“Lin.”

The voice was soft and feminine. Kya. Kya was here. A hand touched Lin’s back in a comforting manner. Instantly, her mind was filled with the soft thump of a familiar heartbeat. Kya. The world was righting itself; Lin was on Air Temple Island sleeping next to the woman she loved. It was just a nightmare.

Just a nightmare.

“Babe, can you hear me?” Lin nodded, unable to form words yet. The hand started to make small circles on her back: Kya’s hand. She was still disoriented. And she tried to focus on the material world around her and not on the spiraling abyss of her mind.

Lin had never had nightmares as a child. It wasn’t until she joined the force that she found herself waking up in cold sweats in the middle of the night. There would be times it was worse than others, but over the years, she had developed ways of handling it.

And then Amon took her bending.

In a matter of seconds Lin’s whole world shattered and the days that followed had been a struggle to break through the darkness that threatened to overwhelm her. Korra had restored her bending, but that feeling of helplessness and despair came back in the dark of the night. Her mind was her own worst enemy.

“Lin, talk to me, please,” Kya had lowered herself off the bed to sit next to Lin on the floor.

“I’m ok.” The words spilled out of her, but her body didn’t feel ‘ok’. Every muscle was tense, and her brain was still hovering between the nightmare and reality. Concentrating on Kya’s heartbeat, she forced herself to push her body upright and into a sitting position with her back resting against the bed.

Kya scooted closer, and slowly took Lin’s hand into her own. Her grip wasn’t too tight in case Lin needed to pull away, but firm enough to offer reassurance. “Just breath, honey, I’m here.”

“I’m ok,” Lin repeated, although at this point, she was trying to convince herself. It was just a dream; Amon couldn’t hurt anyone anymore. She was here with Kya and everyone was safe. So why was her heart still beating out of her chest?

A few minutes ticked by and the two sat on the floor in silence. Eventually, Kya asked, “Do you want to get back in bed?”

Lin shook her head. “I’m wide awake. I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to sleep.”

“Would you like me to make you some tea? It may help get you back to sleep or at least it can calm you down.”

She almost turned down the offer, but if she was being honest, tea sounded great. “Sure…do you want me to-”

“I’ve got it.” Kya slowly got her feet. They were getting a little too old to be sitting on the hard floor. “Just do me a favor and get off the ground.”

“Deal.” Lin closed her eyes again and tilted her head back against the mattress. She felt Kya step towards her and then press a kiss to her forehead. The warmth started to return to her body at Kya’s touch. The waterbender left the room in search of tea and Lin gave herself a few minutes of continuing to sit touching the earth.

She would never know what it felt like to bend the other elements, but if there was one thing she thought made earthbending superior, it was the solid foundation of comfort the earth gave her. People often said the earth was stubborn and earthbenders stubborn as well. That was probably true. But the earth was stubbornly consistent. It did not change; it was firm beneath her feet; and it grounded her to reality. Lin could feel everything around her and if she wanted to, she could use her seismic sense to check on everyone in the temple.

Breath in. Breath out. Feel the earth. Breath in. Breath out.

Slowly, Lin stood up and stretched. Her heartbeat had returned to its normal rate and her mind was no longer whirling with leftover visions of the nightmare. Her body was grounded with the earth and she really didn’t feel like climbing back into bed, but she had promised Kya.

That’s when Lin felt the footsteps in the hallway that stopped in front of the bedroom door. There was no way Kya could have made the tea this quickly and whoever was on the other side was too light-footed to be her girlfriend. An airbender? What time was it? As she was processing, the door creaked open and a short, dark-haired girl poked her head through the opening.

Ikki. What in Kyoshi’s name was the child doing up at this hour?

Tenzin’s youngest daughter looked surprised to see Lin standing in front of the bed. She hesitated, looked out in the hallway and then back into the room. Lin wasn’t sure what to say. Her relationship with Kya wasn’t a secret per se, but Ikki was only eleven. Things like this often went over children’s heads; although Lin was certain the young airbenders took in more than anyone anticipated.

“Where’s Aunt Kya?” asked Ikki in a sleepy voice. Lin’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness and between that and the moonlight streaming in through the window, she could see that the child had been crying.

Lin Beifong did not do crying children.

“She’s in the kitchen.”

Ikki looked back down the hallway and back at Lin again. It became apparent that the child was not going to leave. Either she was too sleepy to understand or something else was bothering her so much that she could only process that she was safe in her Aunt’s room. So, Lin went to the door to let her in; Kya should be back soon and would know what to do. Ikki slipped past Lin and clambered into the bed, hugging her knees to her chest.

Now what?

That was when she remembered Kya mentioning that sometimes Ikki crawled into bed with her when she had a bad dream. It appeared that Lin wasn’t the only one suffering from dark spirits tonight. It broke Lin’s heart a little to think that at eleven years old, Ikki had suffered things in her life to bring about very real dreams. Lin was certain what plagued Ikki tonight was not the normal fears of a child; she had grown up far too fast.

Awkwardly, Lin sat down on the edge of the bed. Ikki was sniffling and she had her head buried in her knees. Comforting people was not one of Lin’s strongest talents, comforting children even less so. So, she did the only thing she could think of: she placed her hand on Ikki’s back, repeating the small circles that Kya had made on her own back.

After a moment, Ikki’s head raised and looked into Lin’s green eyes. Shakily, she asked, “Why can’t I make the dreams go away?”

“I don’t know, kid,” answered Lin honestly.

Ikki appeared to appreciate her answer; somehow understanding that Lin also suffered from nightmares. She started to ask a follow up question, but then bit her lip. Lin could see Ikki was tired, the sleep not completely vanished from her eyes as it had Lin. The poor kid just wanted to sleep. Lin watched as she fiddled with the sheet before getting the courage to ask, “Can you protect me from the nightmare spirits?”

“What?”

“Aunt Kya protects me from the spirits when I have a bad dream. She says she can keep them from coming back and bothering me again,” replied Ikki softly, still twisting the bedsheet with her hands.

The thought that Kya had the ability to keep Ikki, or herself, from having a nightmare was ridiculous. And she would have said that if she hadn’t remembered that those are the sorts of things you tell children to bring them comfort. Toph had never been the type of parent to ‘lie’ to her children and Lin stood steadfast by that philosophy. But if it meant Ikki could go back to sleep peacefully, maybe it wasn’t that bad.

“Alright. I’ll protect you.” That was her job after all. Chief Beifong protected people. Ikki’s eyes lit up at her words and she excitedly pulled back the sheet and crawled beneath. She held up one corner, looking at expectantly at Lin. Lin stared back blankly.

Ikki gave a little pout and motioned for Lin to join her. “You have to snuggle with me. The bad spirits won’t be able to visit us both.”

This is one of the numerous reasons she did not want to become a parent: personal space. Where on earth was Kya? How long did it take to make tea? She was a waterbender for spirits’ sake. Silently, Lin weighed her options. Ikki obviously expected her to have no problems ‘snuggling’ together and this was required for this made of ritual of protecting her from the nightmare spirits. If she refused, there was a chance Ikki may start crying again. And the kid looked like she was about to pass out, so maybe she would fall asleep quickly.

With a sigh, Lin crawled into the space next to Ikki, laying her head back on her pillow. The young girl scooted closer, tossing a skinny leg over Lin’s knees and wrapping her arms around her torso. Lin froze at the sudden connection. Light grey eyes stared up at her with trust and confidence.

“Thanks,” she whispered and then laid her head down on Lin’s chest.

The tiny heartbeat echoed alongside her own. It was soothing; not in the same way as listening to Kya’s heartbeat, but soothing nonetheless. She felt thin fingers tighten around the white fabric of her tank top as if the child were holding on to her for dear life. Maybe she was. Ikki just wanted to feel safe.

Carefully, Lin encircled Ikki’s small body with her arm, securing the child to her body. People liked to be held; even Lin liked to be held on occasion although the only person she let do that anymore was Kya. So now she just had to wait for Kya to come back and she could ‘snuggle’ Ikki correctly.

She could tell that Ikki was asleep within minutes. The steady breathing on her chest combined with the pale moonlight was calming. Air Temple Island was quiet. Maybe once she had some of Kya’s tea, she would be able to go back to sleep too. She envied Ikki for her ability to collapse back into nothingness, knowing the fear of the nightmare returning was a real possibility. 

A thought stopped her: Ikki didn’t think the nightmare would return. Lin was protecting her from the dark spirits. That’s why she was able to go back to sleep so quickly. What Lin would give for a child’s innocence. Her grip on sleeping child nestled into her body became a little tighter. She would protect her, in any way she could.

It didn’t take long for Lin’s eyes to flutter close, safe in the embrace. Sleep found them both peacefully this time. Neither felt the gentle kiss of a loved one, but knew they were safe where they lay.


End file.
